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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. cold — not warm
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. prune — to trim
  5. stock — goods
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. suit — clothes
  8. tear — from crying
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. tear — from crying
  11. suit — to fit
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ground — a position
  16. suit — in cards
  17. prune — to trim
  18. kick — in football
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. rule — a law
  21. ground — the earth
  22. stock — shares
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. tear — to rip

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com